There are many levels of ‘commonness’.
There are people who are religious, non-religious and those with common beliefs.
There are people who believe in One God.
People have a lot in common; life, its beginning, span, needs, strengths, weaknesses, habitat, resources and the end.
The theme of environment in this year’s Islam Awareness Week (held from August 27 to September 1, 2012) reflected on humanity’s environmental elements of commonality.
Apart from the ideological elements of commonality, there are some physical elements such as air and water.
Nature and its resources are common to all people. Humanity needs these and our lives are linked to our environment.
But here is the difference – Muslims do not get obsessed over it because Almighty Allah created the environment and made it subservient (Musakkhar) to mankind.
Yes, we will face the consequences of our actions and the choices we make.
Allah, the Sustainer has given us guidelines for dealing with the environment.
The noble teachings of Islam include the virtue of planting trees, not cutting them unnecessarily, not killing any living being without a legitimate purpose, and not polluting the environment.
Our tradition and heritage demonstrate the use of water and greenery as an adornment of this ‘duniya,’ which are also a hint of what awaits in ‘Jannah.’
A religion that teaches us not to leave any food in the plate to waste does not take our resources lightly.
Our world-view is faith-based, the resources are supplied for our use and for which we will be held accountable on the ‘Day of Judgement.’
Let the Sustainer do the sustaining. If humans could merely learn to use what is available responsibly, there would be no cause for alarm or anxiety.
We can draw out water from the earth, created in the realm of Allah.
We did not create it.
All we can do is dig.
Source: ‘Iman Newsletter,’ published by the Wellington Islamic Centre
